Improvement in percussion-fuses for shells



w. PATTERSON.

Shell-Fuse.

Patented Dc 8, 1863.

WILLIAM F. PATTERSON, OF SOMERSET, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WM. S. FORBES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

iMPRO VEMENT IN PERCUSSION-FUSES FOR SHELLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,885, dated December 8, 1863.

new and useful Improvements in the Oonstruction of Percussion Fuse-Tubes for Shot or Shell; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this description, in which-- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section through the fuse-tube made after my plan. Fig. 2 represents in section thefuse-tube as applied to a shell, which is also in section. Fig. 3 represents a side and end view of the cap that covers the opening through which the fuse-tube is inserted into the shot or shell, and against which the cap is driven to explode it and the contained charge when the shot strikes its object.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the several separate figures, denote like parts in all cases.

Fuse-tubes are most generally, if not universally, made of brass, and require much fitting up in cutting of screw-threads and of fastening the plunger or hammer, toprevent accident in handling the charged shot. My object is both tosimplify and cheapen the expense of fuse-tubes, while I at the same time make them entirely safe and secure against accident in handling. In the first place, I make my fuse-tubes of type-metal, or of a metal or an alloy of metals of about the firm ness and hardness of type-metal, and that will fuse at about the same temperature as typemetal. This kind of metal or alloy I find to be perfectly applicable to the purpose, as my fuse-tubes have been long and thoroughly tested in practice. In the second place, by the use of such a metal or alloy, that is cheap andeasily fused, I can cast the entire thing, screw-threads and all, both male and female, so' that they can used without any finishing after the pieces composing the fuse-tube come from the mold, and thus I produce a perfectly practical and safe fuse-tube at a very small expense-say one-third or one-fourth of the expense of an ordinary brass fuse-tube.

My invention consists in holding the plunger or interior cylinder to the exterior one by a wooden pin, applied as will be hereinafter explained. I

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

B is an exterior tube, having a shoulder at a, and in this tube B an inner tube, O, is slipped, said inner tube having a shoulderat b that rests against the shoulder a. The inner tube, (1, contains powder, and has upon its front end a nipple or cone. E, for holding a cap. \Vhen the tube 0 is slipped within the tube 13, a wooden pin, D, the shank c of which enters the hollow of the tube 0, and the head f of which comes against the ends of both of the tubes, is driven in, as shown in the drawings, and this pin, simply by friction between the wood and metal, holds the plunger 0 firm against any accident by handling or falling. The fuse tubes, being thus prepared, ai'e slipped into the opening in the. shot, and the cap G is run down, its screw-thread having been cast onto the cap when the cap is cast.

The method of igniting the charge contained in the shot is the same as that in the ordinary shot or shellviz., that when the shot strikes an object and is suddenly stopped or checked the tube O, which is also the plunger or hammer, is projected by its momentum against the cap G, exploding its cap, and thus igniting the contained charge. The wooden pin D will not of course restrain the plunger to any extent after the shot strikes; nor will it prevent the fire from the powder contained in C from communicating with that in the shot.

The nipple B may be cast into,.or rather the tube 0 may be cast on or around the nipple or cone, which also cheapens the first cost of the article.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is The holding of the inner tube, 0, which is the hammer or plunger, in its place and to the outer tube, B, by means of a wooden pin, D, applied and acting as herein described and represented.

WILLIAM F. PATTERSON.

Vitnesses:

SAML. llLlRKOE, E. L. NORTON. 

